SSS-Rank Hunter Reborn: Private Tutor to the Count's Bastard Son

Irona Serneck hurried her steps.

It had already been half a year since her nephew headed alone to human lands. As soon as she realized this, her face crumpled.

'It was a mistake. I didn't know it would take this long.'

There was something she'd been doing for her nephew. She'd expected it to take about two months at most, but more time had passed than expected. What she'd done for that child had ended up leaving him alone for a long time.

'I had promised Silvan...'

That she'd come pick him up before long.

Remembering the promise she made before parting, she felt sorry several times.

'But it's okay now.'

Because she could bring him back now, even if it was late.

When they meet, she'd apologize first. Then they'd return to the forest as quickly as possible. She would never leave Silvan alone again.

Her golden eyes visible through the mask sparkled.

But her plan stumbled from the first step.

"...Why won't you leave right now?"

Her original plan was to depart today. But the answer came back that he didn't want to leave immediately. She hadn't expected this situation. Looking at Silvan with narrowed brows, an answer soon came back.

"I thought Irona might be tired..."

"I'm fine. This much isn't even a warm-up."

"B-but it's too late now."

"What does that matter? Night is better than broad daylight."

Irona answered as if scolding. Meanwhile, something suddenly occurred to her.

'Wait, now that I think about it...'

When Count Arcdute mentioned attaching some human as an escort, Silvan's face had brightened for a moment. At the time, she'd passed it off as nothing, but by now she could be suspicious.

"Silvan."

"Yeah?"

"Just asking, but you're not waiting for that human who was with us earlier, are you?"

As soon as those words ended, Silvan's eyes trembled finely. Like someone who'd been hit right on target. When no answer came saying no, Irona's face hardened even more.

"You don't really..."

But she couldn't finish her words. It was because the voices of wind spirits, sylphs, were suddenly heard.

[Wah, sorry. Irona.]

[We tried to block him but failed.]

[We didn't know it would shatter in one hit.]

She'd set up a wind barrier in the corridor to prepare for any potential troublemakers. But it seemed to have been broken.

[Be careful. That guy's not an ordinary human.]

[Sorry, call us again later.]

With a quiet warning, the sylphs returned to the spirit realm.

Then Irona narrowed her eyes.

'Not an ordinary human?'

Who were they talking about? Did Count Arcdute come personally?

Irona's gaze sharpened. If that were the case, she'd have to take Silvan by force if necessary. Just as she was about to grab the spear leaning against the wall to prepare for the worst.

Knock knock—

Someone knocked on the door. Shortly after, a man appeared. A young man with navy blue hair tied back. Seeing him, Silvan shouted happily.

"Ferda!"

It was the very human who had been with Silvan.

Irona's face twisted nastily. Whether he knew this or not, Silvan pointed at Ferda and continued.

"This is my tutor, no, my teacher... No, this is a bit awkward too..."

"You can call me comfortably. That person isn't a complete stranger, right?"

Ferda answered with a chuckle.

At the clear resolution, Silvan nodded as if he understood.

"Irona. This is Ferda, my tutor."

If he said it like this, Irona would introduce herself next. That's what Silvan thought. But reality was different.

"Let's quickly pack first."

"Huh?"

"We need to hurry if we want to get out of here today."

Irona's gaze remained fixed on Silvan. Anyone could see it was unnatural. It looked like she was deliberately trying not to be conscious of Ferda's presence.

"Uh, so that's..."

Silvan trailed off, seeming flustered by Irona's attitude.

That's when Ferda suddenly opened his mouth.

"Red Panther, Serne."

Flinch—

Irona's shoulders trembled once. Even so, her gaze remained directed at Silvan. But seeing her ears trembling finely, she seemed quite shaken. Should he throw a bit more information?

"Was it 6 years ago? I saw you on the battlefield in the Tulan waters in the western part of the kingdom. The sight of you sweeping away pirates like fallen leaves is still vivid."

"..."

"I never thought I'd see you again. And in a place like this."

What he'd just said was all information from the novel. Irona Serneck had worked as a mercenary for about 8 years to build her skills as a warrior.

But bringing out information should be enough up to here. Irona's ears had turned red like ripe apples.

"I'm Ferda Inosid. You can call me comfortably too."

Now she can't ignore me, right? Ferda grinned.

But there was something even he couldn't predict. Irona's stubbornness was much stronger than what was described in the novel.

"Tell me if you need help packing. I'll help."

With a somewhat awkward tone, Irona continued.

"Oh, don't worry about water and food. I prepared everything, so you just need to come with your body."

To think she'd still be stubborn even after all that. Ferda let out an inaudible sigh.

But then, Silvan suddenly opened his mouth.

"Irona."

"So just get ready quickly and come out... Huh?"

A calmly settled voice.

Silvan raised his head. The boy who had been flustered by Irona's interrogation was nowhere to be seen. With somewhat coldly cooled eyes, Silvan spoke.

"I know Irona hates humans. But Ferda is my teacher."

"Tea-teacher...?"

"Irona said before, right? That regardless of gender or race, a teacher is the second greatest existence after parents. For me, that's Ferda."

Calling a human a teacher?

Beyond absurdity, shock settled in Irona's eyes. But Silvan didn't seem to be joking. Shortly after, Silvan continued, putting emphasis on each word.

"So please don't ignore him. Unless you plan to ignore me."

"..."

Silvan's face was serious. An appearance she hadn't seen in the forest. His somewhat changed appearance made her feel strangely restless. At the same time, she had one intuition.

If she ignored that human even here, she would be hated by Silvan.

Grr—

Irona bit her lip hard. Then, trembling with clenched fists, she slowly turned her head. Soon after meeting eyes with Ferda, she moved her lips.

"...I'm Irona Serneck."

Would this be the kind of voice if someone answered while forcibly suppressing anger?

She continued as if spitting out words.

"But don't call my name carelessly without permission."

He knew. Except for Silvan, only 'warriors' she acknowledged could call Irona's name.

'Looks like we have a long way to go.'

He knew she didn't particularly like humans, but he didn't expect such deep hostility. Before asking why she came as a messenger, he'd first have to think about having a normal conversation.

Ferda sighed inwardly.

Meanwhile, Silvan's voice was heard again.

"What do you think, Ferda?"

"About what?"

"About leaving. Irona wants to leave right now..."

At those words, he turned his head to look at Irona. He could feel fierce eyes from beyond the mask. If an answer she didn't like came out, she looked ready to throw the spear in her hand immediately.

Chuckling, Ferda shrugged.

"I don't mind. I've packed everything too."

Since Serneck's messenger had come, there was no reason to stay at the Count's castle. Most importantly, Silvan wanted to return to the forest as soon as possible. It would be better to go quickly.

Whether the answer he wanted came out, Silvan nodded and smiled.

"Alright. Then I just need to pack."

"Oh, I'll help too."

"It's okay. I'll pack quickly. You two talk for a bit."

Silvan rejected Irona's kindness and left the room. Probably to get a bag. Being left alone, an awkward atmosphere filled the room.

Only the sound of the clock ticking could be heard.

"I can't keep calling you 'you,' so I thought about what to call you."

Ferda opened his mouth. Irona's gaze was still directed outside the window, but it didn't matter. He had no intention of having a conversation anyway.

"I'll call you Serne. That was the name when I first saw you."

No answer came back. She might be ignoring him, or it might mean agreement. But since she didn't object, he should be able to call her that from now on.

Rattle rattle—

Meanwhile, the window suddenly shook. Was it windy? Just as he was thinking that, one of the windows beside the bed suddenly opened wide. Soon something whitish entered the room.

'That's...'

Though not clearly visible, he could feel its rank.

It was probably one of the three spirits circling around Silvan. Ferda soon lost interest. But at that moment, wind suddenly whirled through the room.

Whoosh—!

Hot wind filled with flames. Shortly after, two spirits appeared before Irona.

A snake wrapped in flames and an eagle with pure white wings.

[Irona, step back.]

[It's dangerous, so you'd better take up your weapon quickly.]

The snake and eagle spoke in turn.

Irona asked in a startled voice.

"What's wrong? I didn't even call you?"

[Something unholy has entered.]

[Quite strong. Strong enough that we can't guarantee victory.]

At their answer, Irona's eyes went wide.

The two spirits were high-level spirits of fire and wind attributes. If they had enough mana, they were strong enough to face intermediate Sword Expert knights. But they were making weak sounds in front of just one whitish smoke?

Whiiiii—

At that moment, more whitish smoke entered from outside.

At the same time, both spirits trembled all over.

[...Run away quickly, Irona.]

"What?"

[There's no chance of victory. Evacuate from here!]

[I take back what I said earlier. I didn't know there would be three of those things.]

Their voices were clearly tense.

Irona couldn't come to her senses at all. What were those things that made high-level spirits tell her to run away?

Bang—

That's when the door opened. It was Silvan holding an empty bag. Seeing him, Irona's eyes went round.

"Silvan!"

An urgent cry burst out.

She hurriedly reached out toward Silvan.

"It's dangerous there! Quickly come to my side..."

They were unholy things that even high-level spirits warned about. She had to bring Silvan over as soon as possible. But the unholy things approached Silvan faster.

Grr—!

She clenched her teeth tightly. Borrowing the power of wind spirits, she quickly rushed out and blocked Silvan's front.

"Step back, Silvan."

The sharp spear blade pointed toward the unholy things. Silvan's eyes went wide at the sudden situation. But that was brief, as Silvan lightly laughed and patted Irona's back.

"If it's those guys, it's fine."

"Wh-what?"

"They're good kids. They've helped me before."

Silvan grinned.

Then, leaving the dazed Irona behind, he turned around.

"Yeah, you have something to tell me? A report? What is it?"

A natural appearance as if talking with old friends.

Also, the spirits only circled around Silvan and didn't seem to have any intention of harming him. While looking at that scene with a blank face, Ferda's muttering reached Irona's ears.

"They're the ones my student commands."

In a calm tone, Ferda continued.

"Silvan became a necromancer recently."

"Necromancer..."

"Yes. His sleeping talent blossomed."

Her gaze turned to Silvan again. Unholy beings. Seeing him freely control spirits, she unconsciously clenched her fists tightly. Then Irona's shoulders trembled finely.

It wasn't a tremor filled with anger. It was closer to emotion.

"...Irina's blood was properly inherited. Thank goodness."

Irona muttered with slightly reddened eyes.

As Ferda was quietly watching her, the spirits who had overheard their conversation exclaimed as if excited.

[Unbelievable! How can he command those things when he has no rank at all?]

[He doesn't completely lack rank. He has some, but it's hard to see. Could he be using some tool that hides his rank?]

That was correct. Silvan was currently wearing the Eyes of the Moon around his neck. Not only nether mana but also his rank as a necromancer was hidden.

If he took that off here, the spirits would make a huge fuss. Saying that the nemesis of holy things, the king of all unholy things, had appeared.

That's when the three spirits gazed at the high-level spirits.

[My king. There are flies buzzing around in the room.]

[Red and white flies.]

[If you command it, we'll clean them up immediately.]

From their displeased voices, they didn't seem to like spirits very much.

"Don't do that. They're on the same side."

But when Silvan shook his head, the three spirits became quiet as if nothing had happened. Seeing the spirits that had become like gentle sheep, Silvan opened his mouth again.

"Let me hear what you reported to me first, then I'll come."

[Yes, that's more important.]

[But if you change your mind, please tell us anytime.]

[Squishy is good at catching flies.]

Leaving behind the spirits who couldn't give up their lingering attachment.

Silvan immediately approached the two.

"Ferda, Irona."

At his call, both their gazes turned to Silvan.

Silvan voiced the report he'd just heard.

"Hardy says that one blessed by divine grace has approached right up close. Huh? Oh, he says if I mention Saint, you'll know immediately."

As soon as that answer ended.

Irona tilted her head in confusion. As if wondering what the problem was.

On the other hand, Ferda was different.

His face hardened stiffly like someone who had heard something he shouldn't have heard.